then the so-called defensive marriage act that passed in 1996. when you cite those polls, what's so interesting to me is that this first burst on the national scene in 1996 popped up in conservative research when they were running out of issues and they suddenly went, my god, eureka. this gay marriage issue. this is an amazing weapon to use. the american public does not favor it and it can be used politically. karl rove called it the gift that keeps on giving. for many years, it did. one thing the conservatives did not count on are two things. one, most families have a gay son or daughter they love or a cousin or uncle they cherish. the other thing, thomas, is at the end of the day, they didn't anticipate that conservatives themselves would come to see this as a conservative issue. >> sure, it's a traditional value. >> absolutely. >> when you have vehicle dick cheney who has a daughter who wanted to get married and start a family. just not from individuals on the right. we have seen elizabeth now. we have nine states in washington d.c. area havin